Google Chrome Data Saver extension leaked

Google Chrome for iOS and Android have been using Data Compression Proxy for a while. This feature has been brought to desktop thanks to the open source Data Compression Proxy extension by niu tech. Now Google is developing its own extension entitled Data Saver (codenamed Flywheel Desktop), screenshot of which has recently leaked:

UPDATE: The official extension is now available in Chrome Web Store.

You can also compare Chrome Compression Proxy with Opera Turbo and Mozilla Janus.

Source: crbug.com

Download Chrome Dev Editor developer pre-release

Chrome Dev Editor is a web development environment running as a packaged app inside Google Chrome. It is based on the open source project Spark developed by Google since November 2013 using the Dart language and Polymer elements. Chrome Dev Editor supports building JavaScript & Dart web apps, Chrome apps, Polymer elements and widgets. It is going to be officially announced at Google I/O 2014, but you can download the developer pre-release version 0.13 below. Keep in mind, that you use it at your own risk.

To install Chrome Dev Editor, you would probably need a developer channel of Google Chrome. Go to chrome://extensions, drag and drop the CRX file there. You will be asked to install the packaged app.

On the first run, the app could hang at a splash screen for a while:

 In the main window, you can click the wrench icon to check the settings:

You can create your new project, deploy it or clone the Git repository using the hamburger icon:

You can run the HTML file using the context menu or the play icon:

Chrome Dev Editor provides code autocompletion and highlighting:

It even provides an integrated web server and supports Web Starter Kit out of the box:

Download Chrome Dev Editor packaged app (CRX)



Disclaimer: This is an unofficial developer pre-release. I am not affiliated with Google.

Speed up your Google Chrome for desktop by using Data Compression Proxy

Google has added a Chrome Data Compression Proxy to its mobile Google Chrome browser for iOS and Android. Like Opera Turbo, it speeds up web browsing by greatly reducing size of transferred HTTP packets, by using a SPDY protocol, compressing resources, optimizing images to WEBP format and tunneling all traffic via secure HTTPS connection. Unfortunately, it has been available only to mobile users. Until now.

Browsing the net, I have just found an experimental Google Chrome extension, which brings Data Compression Proxy to desktop. This is an unofficial add-on, so it could potentially break some web pages or stop working some day, but for now it works great and accelerates web browsing significantly. What is more, it is open source, so anybody can check its source and contribute to it.

UPDATE: Google has released the official Data Saver extension for Chrome.

Download Data Saver from Chrome Web Store

Alternatives to Google Instant Previews

A few days ago Google silently disabled Instant Previews in Google Search. It provided small thumbnails of search results, which you could quickly preview before loading the full web page. Here is a list of alternative extensions for Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera web browser:

• SearchPreview for Firefox and Chrome
• CoolPreviews for Firefox and Chrome
• ezLinkPreview for Chrome
• Thumbshots for Firefox
• SearchenginePreview for Opera

What is your favorite one?